Johannesburg – South African Branden Grace carded a four-under par 66 to lie four shots off the pace in the third round of the US Open at Oakmont Country Club on Saturday.
Although the leading groups had not completed their rounds due to fading light, the top-ranked SA player was able to finish his round to get to one-under par for the tournament in sixth place on his own. Irishman Shane Lowry led on five-under par with four holes left in his round. American Andrew Landry was two shots behind in second place on three-under after 13 holes in his round.
Grace, ranked 12th in the world, tied the low round of the day along with world number one Jason Day of Australia. Day lurks at one over after three rounds and could also mount a strong challenge in the final round.
Grace reeled off six birdies, offset by just two bogies on the difficult layout to vault 21 places up the leaderboard on the day.
The Links at Fancourt golfer was tied for the lead in the 2015 edition of the US Open with three holes left to play at Chambers Bay, before an out-of-bounds tee shots cost him his shot at the title. He would have to settle for a tied-fourth place finish, but the experience would no doubt have benefitted the player.
“I think the last two Majors have been great. Finishing this season, last year, and I’ve learned a lot from that,” said Grace after his round.
“It’s still a little bit of a different position. Last year, I was in the lead. This year, I’m chasing a little bit. So it’s just you have to try not to get ahead of yourself, just stay in the moment, stay positive and not force matters.”
Since that US Open performance in 2015, Grace went on to boast an unbeaten record in the Presidents Cup and he said drawing on all those memories going into the final round would serve him well.
“I’ve got a lot of great past experiences just from the Presidents Cup leading up to this and they were big moments, doing good things in the big moments. I’m definitely going to relive those and hopefully make a couple good ones tomorrow.”
Countryman Charl Schwartzel shot a one-under 69 to settle on three-over par. Louis Oosthuizen was also on three over, but still had three holes left to play in his third round.
– African News Agency